Just Received a Spam E-mail Dated January 1st, 1980!

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  1. Gordon Hamilton profile image94
    Gordon Hamiltonposted 12 years ago

    I've heard of some servers proving a little bit slow but this is ridiculous. Surely e-mails weren't even conceived of so far back as 1980?

    A few minutes ago, I received an e-mail from some company offering me breast implants at the, "Hugely discounted," price of £2,500 (!!!) and this was the date on the message.

    Naturally, I did reply and thanked them, "Very much for their kind, bargain offer and for thinking of me," but told them that unfortunately I had other financial priorities at the moment... lol

    The spamming issue aside, anyone any idea how such a date could appear on an e-mail?

    1. paradigmsearch profile image60
      paradigmsearchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yep, probably the default date on older computers when the user isn't coordinated enough to put in their own.

      1. Gordon Hamilton profile image94
        Gordon Hamiltonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

        Ahhh... OK. Thanks paradigmsearch.

        1. Greekgeek profile image78
          Greekgeekposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Hee hee. I love this particular bug. Every computer's internal clock counts from some particular start date, so if there's some kind of calendar glitch, you get whatever default date the computer thinks of as Year Zero.

          UNIX: January 1, 1970 00:00:00 GMT**
          PC and DOS: January 1, 1980

          Windows: January 1, 1601  (I have actually received emails from my Mom dated to the 1600s... I resisted the urge to tease her about her age.)

          Macs used to be January 1, 1900, but I think now they've moved up to 2001, just to be confusing.


          ** you may have noticed that the forums of Squidoo and some other bulletin boards occasionally get confused and list the registration dates of members as December 31, 1969. That's the UNIX "zero date" for a server housed in an American timezone.

          1. Gordon Hamilton profile image94
            Gordon Hamiltonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Wow - thanks, Greekgeek! That's what I call a full answer! smile

            I have noticed what you point out before and have wondered but never knew the explanation.

            Your Mom could probably confuse and even frighten quite a few people with her e-mails... lol

    2. Cardisa profile image87
      Cardisaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Gordon, I found that really funny....breast implants?! lol lol

      1. Gordon Hamilton profile image94
        Gordon Hamiltonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

        Just as well I'm not an easy sell, Cardisa... wink

  2. PaulGoodman67 profile image96
    PaulGoodman67posted 12 years ago

    I am still waiting for my email from the future, telling me which Lottery numbers to pick! wink

    1. paradigmsearch profile image60
      paradigmsearchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Now that's not a bad idea! In fact, I know just how to make that happen...

  3. couturepopcafe profile image60
    couturepopcafeposted 12 years ago

    Wow, that's weird.  I just received an email from Ebay telling me that a buyer tried to open a claim.  It was dated 21 months ago.

  4. Richieb799 profile image75
    Richieb799posted 12 years ago

    Spam keeps for a very long time, I think its one of the foods you can take into bomb shelters!

  5. jtyler profile image59
    jtylerposted 12 years ago

    That was me.  I tried to contact you 31 years ago, but I guess it didn't get through.  Darn dial up!

    1. Greekgeek profile image78
      Greekgeekposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      The hills are alive.... with the sound of Wingo wingo wing blatt bzzzzzzzzzttttt.... (warning: turn the volume down on your speakers)

      Ah, those dulcet tones of our younger days.

  6. melbel profile image93
    melbelposted 12 years ago

    Eww... they're using a Windows email server.

 
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